Takeaways: Goaltending Steals Show As Penguins Close Out Winning California Road Trip

It felt like the Pittsburgh Penguins really needed a win after a tough 5-2 loss against the Anaheim Ducks Sunday. Opening up their three-game California road trip 1-1, another notch in the W column, and four out of six points, would elevate the trip from okay to successful. 

And they managed to get the job done Wednesday despite some drama near the end. 

The Penguins defeated the San Jose Sharks, 3-2, in a shootout Wednesday courtesy of a stellar performance by rookie goaltender Sergei Murashov. The 22-year-old stopped 34 of 36 shots by San Jose, and he was able to stymie each of the Sharks' three shootout attempts to earn the two points and send Pittsburgh home on a high note. 

Pittsburgh played pretty well in the first period, and they were rewarded at the end of a high-pressure power play and shift to follow with a Sam Girard blast from the point to make it 1-0. 

However, the middle frame was largely controlled by the Sharks, who spent much of it swarming the Penguins on the offensive attack. It didn't result in a goal for the home team, but it did set the tone for the rest of regulation. 

Early in the third period, the Penguins were awarded a power play opportunity, and 19-year-old center Ben Kindel converted down low to put the good guys up, 2-0. Chances were traded back and forth, but slowly, the Sharks were gaining back the lion's share of the momentum. 

Superstar Macklin Celebrini cut the lead in half just past the midway point of the period, and four minutes later, Celebrini made a ridiculous pass with a lot of time to work with to a wide-open Mason Marchment on the back door, and he buried it to tie the game. 

As they typically do, the Penguins controlled most of the possession in overtime, but it was not enough to end things during the three-on-three. So, the game advanced to a shootout, where Kindel buried the very first shot and Murashov was able to shut down Celebrini, rookie Ivar Stenberg, and forward Will Smith to seal the narrow win. 

Here are a few takeaways from this nail-biter of a win:

- Aside from the fact that Murashov largely stole this game for the Penguins - which, I'll get to in a second - this was just an exciting hockey game to watch. 

Yes, neither team is off to the best start. The Sharks entered the game with 17 points and the fourth-worst goal differential in the league at minus-20, while the Penguins were sitting in the basement of the Eastern Conference with a 6-10-2 record and 14 points. 

But chances were traded left and right, momentum swings were large and aggressive, iron was struck on both sides, and scoring chances were abound on either side of the ice. Sharks' goaltender Yaroslav Askarov was just as outstanding as Murashov, stopping 33 of 35 Penguins' shots on goal, so it ultimately ended up a goaltending dual between two teams with lackluster defensive structure and higher-octane offensive players. 

In general, San Jose probably had the slight edge as far as regulation play. But, Murashov was there to plug the leaks. 

- And, man, was this an excellent performance by Murashov, who earned the first star of the game. 

The saves he was making were not only timely on some high-danger chances against, but he looked so confident making them. There were times - including during the shootout - where he was so far out in front of his net to take away angles that the Sharks had very little to work with. And that overcommitment was not an issue because Murashov is so quick to reposition. 

In particular, there was a sequence leading up to what was eventually a non-goal by Stenberg in the second period due to a high-stick on the puck. Prior to the no-goal, Murashov made an initial save on a shot from the point, and then, on the rebound, he was able to get back and to his left to make a spectacular pad save on Celebrini before the puck squirted up and Stenberg high-sticked it down to his body and put it in off his hand. 

And, on the Smith save during the shootout in particular, Murashov challenged him and made the pad save look easy. 

Both games won on this trip had Murashov's fingerprints on them. He is up to an .891 save percentage in seven games this season to Arturs Silovs's .873 in 12 games, and that was with a few rough outings prior to the road trip. 

I'd imagine he gets the net again Saturday against the Ottawa Senators, but then again, Silovs will go at least a week and half without a start if that is the case, as the Penguins will not play again until Thursday against the St. Louis Blues at home. But, either way, a goaltender is going to sit for more than a week. 

It would be a great nod of confidence from the head coach to give the rookie, who helped secure a winning road trip, the keys to the next one.

- The line deployment is still something that continues to baffle me a bit. After starting the game with new-look combinations - notably, Nick Robertson up with Egor Chinakhov and Kindel and Tommy Novak centering the third line - things seemed to be working pretty nicely after the first 20.

Then, as soon as momentum shifted the other way, everything was chaos in the Penguins' top-six. Malkin had a few shifts with Rakell and Chinakhov. Crosby had some shifts with Kindel and Robertson. Some shifts were the original lines. Crosby, Malkin, and Chinakhov got a shift. So did Crosby, Rakell, and Kindel. 

In other words, I'm not sure the line chaos helped the Penguins' cause in an already-muddy second period. They stuck to the original lines in the third period, and they were a bit better in the final 20.

Dan Muse has done a great job in his short time as the Penguins' head coach, as evidenced by his Jack Adams nomination last season. But the one thing I wish he'd do more is allow chemistry to build. He's a bit too quick to change things in response to momentum swings that don't go in the Penguins' favor, and for a team that has struggled to find consistency early on this season, I'm not sure the perpetual changes are a good thing. 

- One positive change in this one was Rutger McGroarty's entrance into this lineup. I thought he played a nice game on the fourth line next to Blake Lizotte and Connor Dewar. 

The production is going to need to happen eventually, but McGroarty really does bring a lot otherwise to the table. He's been very strong defensively in his brief NHL sample size, and he showed some signs of being that energy guy that he's known for being in the AHL. He's a cerebral player, makes the right reads in all three zones, and positions himself well to make plays.

Many want instant gratification when it comes to prospects, and that's understandable. But players progress differently, and sometimes - as was the case with another guy named Bryan Rust - the production shows up much later than the details. 

It's a good sign that McGroarty seems to have a lot of the details nailed down. If he's a contributing fourth-liner for now, that's fine as long as he is doing things to help the team win away from the scoresheet.

I believe that he can and that he is, and I believe he's earned another lineup slot Saturday.

- Chinakhov is on the verge. 

One thing that has been nice to see amongst all of the lineup chaos is that Chinakhov and Kindel have, largely, remained paired together. Since then, both of them seem to have picked up their respective games, and on Wednesday, I thought both were outstanding. 

Kindel looks more comfortable in an elevated role, and he has two nice shooters to distribute to in Chinakhov and Robertson. But Chinakhov was the Penguins' best player in this game, as he came away tied for second in shot attempts with 10 behind only Erik Karlsson, who is as trigger-happy as I've seen him in a Penguins' uniform, well, ever.

Chinakhov was everywhere on Wednesday. He's very, very close, and hit the goalpost yet again in this one. When one goes in, it feels like the floodgates will open. 

- Speaking of Karlsson, he is up to 19 points in 19 games and is teeing off on pretty much every opportunity he gets. He had seven shots and 12 shot attempts in this game, and he is just firing away on the power play in particular, almost as if in defiance of the Penguins' struggles on the man advantage. 

A shooters-mindset Karlsson is a dangerous Karlsson. Hopefully, this shamelessly offense-aggressive version of him continues to show up, as he's honestly at his best when he's confident and aggressive.

As a side note, he was getting some boos in San Jose, which I found a bit amusing considering he registered 102 points in his final season there. 

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